


A Half Blind Date

by Miraclesandskittlerainbows



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Blind Date, Fluff, Human Bill Cipher, It's like literate candyfloss, M/M, Older Dipper Pines, Tags May Change, This is p much entirely fluff tho, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-04-25 22:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4978402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miraclesandskittlerainbows/pseuds/Miraclesandskittlerainbows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mabel decided it'd be a great idea to send her brother on a blind date with Bill Cipher. And in a way, it kind of was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 50 Whipped Cream

Dipper would have rather been anywhere else in the world than at that coffee shop, waiting alone. The inside of a volcano would have been preferable. But persistent was certainly an understatement for his sister. And when all else failed, she had to pull out that sad look on him, didn’t she? That look that made him feel like he’d just kicked the most innocent, vulnerable puppy in the universe. 

Mabel had, when he’d asked, told him that she refused to reveal the identity of his blind date. She’d said that it totally went against the purpose of a blind date. He had said, of course, that he needed to know who he was looking for. He couldn’t very well have walked around asking every lone person in there if they’d been sent by Mabel. (Well, technically he could but that was beside the point.) On his prompting, all she’d done was say “Don’t worry, they’ll find you!” He didn’t know exactly how this other person was going to find him when Mabel obviously refused to give anything away, but his twin adamantly refused to say more on the subject.

When he’d reached the place, he took a few moments outside before opening the door and stepping inside. He looked around, seeing if he could spot anyone alone who could have been looking for him. Seeing no signs of anyone who could maybe be his date, he sat down at an empty table and waited.  
At least 15 minutes of nothing passed, with him looking at the door expectantly every time someone came or left, before someone a little unusual looking walked into the small shop. Unusual didn’t mean there was anything odd about him in particular, but it was his attire that made him look very out of place. He wore suit pants, shoes, a button up shirt, a bowtie, a waistcoat and topped it off (quite literally) with a top hat. He walked with a cane that honestly looked like it was more for show than anything. He had blonde hair parted to the side that covered one eye. He looked straight at Dipper, a grin splitting his features as he walked over.

“Pine Tree, huh?” Dipper was relatively confused by that. Was the stranger asking about his hat? It was at that proximity that Dipper noticed an eyepatch under the strange man’s fringe, covering his eye further. The realisation hit Dipper very suddenly that this man, looking around his own age, was potentially his blind date. He looked about insane enough to be a friend of Mabel. 

“My name’s Dipper. You’re not Mabel’s friend are you?” Dipper spent a moment silently hoping, praying that his suspicions were wrong.

“Yes I am.” Shit. “And my name’s Bill.” The man, Bill, sat down across from Dipper, reaching an arm across the table. “Nice to meet you, Pine Tree.” Dipper reluctantly shook the man’s hand before Bill quickly withdrew his arm.

“My name’s Dipper, I told you.” Silence followed, and Dipper sat under the man’s gaze desperately looking for a conversational topic. “So, uh, eye patch... Why do you have that?” 

Bill looked at Dipper like he thought he was never going to ask. “I got in a fight with a bear, nothing too exciting. An eye for an eye. Honestly it was more like an eye for a life.” There was no way that story was true. Dipper refused to believe it. 

“Oh yeah, what kind of bear was it?” He was ready to challenge the man He wanted to see him hesitate and think over his answer, but that never happened. Without any hesitation at all the man replied.

“It was a multibear. Big grizzly bear with lots of heads. It lived in a cave in the mountains. Now it’s just a skeleton and some skulls. Why you asking, kid? It’s not exactly like there are many kinds of bear out here. Or did you see one?” Okay, he seriously couldn’t have expected him to believe that. A multibear, really? This guy was worse than his sister.

“You really expect me to believe-“ He cut himself short, sighing. “Look, are we going to get coffee or not?”

“Of course we are, Pine Tree! We’re not in a coffee shop for nothing. I’ll have an espresso with whipped cream. Say about 50. Yeah, 50 whipped cream.” Dipper got up, slightly confused about how exactly ’50 whipped cream’ was measured, and walked over to the counter. 

“Uh, hi. I’d like a black coffee and,” He blanked for a moment and thought about his options, and all of his life decisions. “And an espresso with 50 whipped cream.”

Dipper first put some sugar in his own drink before returning and putting Bill’s order in front of him. He looked it over for a few moments. “Well, that looks like about 50. Good job, kid.” Before he took the cup and drank all of it down. The most extraordinary thing about watching Bill drink his ‘espresso with 50 whipped cream’ was the fact that he drank it in one go and managed to get absolutely nothing around his mouth. How he did that, Dipper had no idea. He hadn’t even sat down yet. So he did so. He sat down across from Bill, his cup still full, and Bill’s empty. “So talk to me, Pine Tree. That is what you’re meant to do on a date, right? Hm, let’s see. What are some of those questions you’re meant to go for? Well I know your last name’s Pines. Mine’s Cipher, by the way. Oh, here’s one. What do you do for work?” 

“I’m a writer. I have a couple of books out.” He was a writer, never slept and lived on coffee. People had told him doing that alone wasn’t a sensible career. That he was smart enough to do something better. But it was what he liked doing. Plus, it just about paid the bills.

“A writer, hm? Anything I would’ve heard of?” 

“Probably not. I just do crime fiction stuff, mostly.”

“I’ll have to have a look and see if I can find anything you’ve done.”

“Yeah…” Dipper didn’t really know how to follow up, so he switched the question on its head instead. “What do you do?”

“Me? Not telling. I want to see if you can figure it out. Don’t start naming jobs at me now. I want you to tell me when you’re near certain of what it is.” Bill sat with a smug smile on his lips, obviously not giving any more information. Dipper really wouldn’t know how to follow up the conversation. He sat in silence instead, unnerved a little by the single golden eye and the constant smile on the man’s lips as he drank his coffee. When he’d finished it, he couldn’t really think of anything else. So he stood up. 

“So, it’s been nice meeting you Bill.”

“You too, Pine Tree.” The man stood as well, sure to tuck his chair under the table.

“So uh, maybe I’ll see you some other time?” Dipper sighed. “Okay look, I don’t think this is going to work out. I didn’t really want to come out today, I only really did because of my sister. And you seem alright, but I’m not really looking for anything right now, and –“Bill cut his rambling short

“Look, kid. I’m not gonna let you be that quick to quit. You are going to see me again, this was honestly pretty fun. And I wouldn’t mind another go. It’s not going to hurt you to at least try to get to know a guy a little better before completely blowing him off.” Bill took a card with his number out of his pocket, and handed it to Dipper. “Call me.” The man grinned before walking out of the coffee shop, leaving Dipper where he stood.


	2. Texts to substitute calls.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get home and text each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaah, hey guys. Literally didn't expect anything but apparently people are reading this already? Thank you for that, here have another chapter.  
> (I wrote both of these chapters without a coffee and I'm dying a little)

Dipper got home and half collapsed onto the couch, Mabel immediately noting his presence there. She often claimed to have a Dipper sense, but probably just heard the door open and close. She came out of her room to Dipper on the couch. The two still lived together and neither minded; they were close and got on well. They obviously didn’t share rooms anymore. That decision had been made for them by puberty.

“Soooo, Dippin’ Dots, how was the daaaaaate?” Mabel leant over the arm of the sofa as she spoke, chin resting on her hands and elbows on the cushion next to Dipper.

“It was alright. The guy was alright, though I swear his coffee orders are actually stranger than yours, and I got his number.” Mabel looked a little offended at the prospect of anyone having stranger coffee orders than her. Once she had asked for it to be purple. 

“And what did you two talk about?” Mabel had a shit-eating grin on her face. Dipper really didn’t know why; it’s not like he’d said anything that could’ve made it sound like he actually enjoyed himself.

“We didn’t really talk that much. I thought of conversation topics while he kind of just stared at me. Does he ever stop smiling?” Ah yes, the man’s smile. It was honestly quite unsettling, but oddly charming at the same time. “I asked him why he had an eyepatch, he gave me some bullshit about a bear. He asked me about work at one point, and that was the longest running conversation we had at about 30 seconds long. The rest of the time was mostly uncomfortable silence; he didn’t seem very uncomfortable though.”

“Oh, he tells everyone the bear story. It’s quite a good one really! And I think he likes yoooouuuuu. And you totally like him too. I know you do, because I am an awesome matchmaker.” Mabel seemed really excited, Dipper really didn’t want to crush her soul, so he kept his response as positive as he could.  
“Yeah, I mean he’s alright.” He tried to think of Bill’s good qualities to parrot back to Mabel. “He’s, uh, pretty good looking too.” Well, that definitely wasn’t a lie. Dipper had found Bill pretty good looking. Maybe more than that. Bill definitely had appearance nailed. And god if it wasn’t a memorable one. He definitely did not blend into the background.

“See bro-bro!? I am an awesome matchmaker!” Mabel looked really proud of her accomplishment. Dipper guessed he’d just have to try and persevere more time with Bill, for her.

“Yeah, you are.” Dipper chuckled slightly. “And what are we going to have for dinner tonight?”

“I thought you’d never ask, Dipdop. In a kind of celebration of you getting out of the house for once, I’m ordering pizza.”

“Haha, funny. I go outside sometimes, you know.”

“Only when you have to!” She pointed out. Well, that was pretty much true, and he honestly didn’t have an argument in response. “Now I have pizza to order. And you have a boyfriend to call!”

“Mabel, he is not my boyfriend! I literally just met him today.” Dipper tried to stop the heat spreading through his cheeks, to no avail.  
“Yeah, give it time!” Mabel laughed “You look like a tomato.”  
“Yeah well, your face looks like a tomato!” Mabel practically cackled as she ran back to her room. Dipper really had to work on his comebacks. He took the card with the blonde’s number from his pocket. He wouldn’t call him yet. He’d wait. He didn’t want to get Bill’s hopes up or anything, like he’d done Mabel’s. But he didn’t want to make Bill think he was avoiding him either. He did the sensible thing and saved his number to his contacts, sending a text only to tell him that it was his number.

A few minutes later, he received a text. And he totally did not spend those few minutes looking at his phone every few seconds. Of course not. 

[Text from: Bill] So you finally remembered that you own a phone then, Pine Tree?

Huh, so Bill had been waiting for him to text. Maybe Mabel was right and the man did like him. Or maybe he was just overthinking things? He texted him back.

[Text to: Bill] Were you waiting for me to text back this whole time? At least try to not make your crush on me that obvious.

He may have not thought it to be true, but he could make a joke, right?

[Text from: Bill] Getting your hopes up there Pine Tree? Just because you have a pretty face, it doesn’t mean every man you come into contact with has an instant crush on you.

Pretty? Really? It wasn’t a word he would have ever used for himself.

[Text to: Bill] Hey! I’m not pretty. I’m too manly for that.

[Text from: Bill] Oh yes, so manly with your slender frame, thin arms and small soft hands. 

Wait, had Bill actually been paying attention to everything down to his hands? Dipper honestly couldn’t remember what Bill’s hands were like, even having shaken hands with him.

[Text from: Bill] And you’re not even going to pretend that you don’t want me to have a crush on you.

Oh hell no, it was a distraction tactic. And he was running out of ammo.

[Text from: Bill] Though I’m flattered, really. Well, I have to go work. And you’re getting no clues. Enjoy your pizza. Goodnight.

Okay, Dipper had not said anything about the pizza. At all. How did he know about that? Oh of course, he was friends with Mabel. She must have told him. Oh holy shit Bill had better not have said anything to Mabel about their conversation. Mabel’s hopes (And ego) had been fed enough already. He didn’t need her thinking that he actually liked Bill on top of that.

\--------------------------

Bill sat down in his chair as he got home to his apartment. Maybe Mabel had been right when she told him he needed to go and meet her brother for some coffee. In his view, the date had gone quite well. He’d quite enjoyed it and Pine Tree had his number and everything. The other man was very different from himself, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Mabel had, at any rate, way overestimated how the date was going to go. If Mabel had her way with it, the date would have ended with the two of them practically married, one of them going to the other’s afterwards. But of course, that wasn’t what happened. It was a pretty normal first date. Normal, except for the two actually never having met before. Honestly it was just a normal first meeting.

He started on making his dinner, just normal pasta Bolognese, nothing fancy. When everything had been sorted and the sauce was cooking in the pan, checking his phone to see two texts. One from Mabel, the other from an unknown number.

[Text from: Shooting star] Okay, I know Dip has your number. Let me know the moment he texts or calls.

[Text from: ???] Hey Bill, it’s Dipper. Just letting you know that this is my number.

Bill saved Dipper’s number in his contacts as Pine Tree before messaging him back. After that, he messaged Mabel.

[Text to: Shooting Star] Hey, Pine Tree texted me. Sorry if there was holdup, I’m cooking dinner.

She had, after all, instructed to be let known the moment he texted.

[Text from: Shooting Star] Ooooh, what are you making?

[Text to: Shooting Star] Oh, just pasta.

[Text from: Shooting Star] Sounds nice. We’re ordering in pizza tonight, to celebrate Dipping Dots actually leaving the house for once.

He spoke to Mabel for a while, mostly idle small talk, a little reporting back things being discussed between him and Pine Tree at the exact same time. After a while he said goodnight to both of them. He ate his dinner hungrily, not having eaten at all since breakfast. Oops. After finishing that and cleaning up his dishes, Bill moved to the spare room so that he could get some work done, before he’d sleep. He’d maybe make it back to his bed, or he’d just crash in the spare room for the night. Whichever he could be bothered to do later.


	3. Blind Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more stuff about Bill's eye and they're all pretty gay here to be honest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this chapter's a little shorter than the first two.  
> And thank you so much for reading this. I love the idea that people are actually liking it.

Bill woke up the next morning, lying on the floor of his workroom. He swore he slept in there more than he slept in his own bed. He worked at night a lot, though there really wasn’t any specific reason to. It just left his days pretty much free to do whatever he wanted. If he somehow got bored during the day, or if he thought of something useful, he’d go into there and get some work done anyway. It was an arrangement he was happy with, even if it included waking up on cold wooden flooring most mornings. 

Bill stood up and stretched out before heading back into his living space. He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted for breakfast. Maybe he’d just cook some pancakes; those were always good. He traipsed into the kitchen to get started, picking up the phone he’d left in there overnight. The time was 9:13am and he had no texts. He put on some music to avoid working in silence. Nothing specific really, he just let it play on shuffle. 

After finishing making breakfast, he put the pan, mixing bowl and everything else on the side to deal with later. He really needed a dishwasher or something. He carried his plate to the table, sitting down to eat and also sending a text to the man he’d met the previous day. Dipper interested him as a person. Bill didn’t know why particularly, but he wanted to learn more about the brunet. He picked up his phone, sending Dipper a text along with a picture of his breakfast. 

[Text to: Pine Tree] Morning, kid. Just made breakfast. How was pizza last night?

He waited and ate for a couple of minutes before receiving a message in reply.

[Text from: Pine Tree] You’re actually already sending me morning messages? I’ll give it five minutes and you’ll be sending kisses and hearts. And yeah, pizza was good. How was work?

[Text to: Pine Tree] What do you think I am? A teenage girl? And work was good. I’m still not telling you what I do for a job. Nice try there though. X X X X <3

[Text from: Pine Tree] Wow, you actually are a teenage girl.

[Text to: Pine Tree] You brought it upon yourself, Pine Tree. X X X X X X X X X <3 <3 <3

[Text from: Pine Tree] I have created a monster.

Bill couldn’t help laughing at that. Messing with Dipper was fun; it seemed to be much easier over text. In real life, Dipper was near unrealistically awkward. 

[Text to: Pine Tree] Well, I’ll talk to you later, kid. I have to eat and then shower. You probably have a mental image of me showering now. Have fun with that.

[Text from: Pine Tree] Yeah, talk to you later. And I have no mental images like that right now.

And with that, Bill put his phone down and finished the rest of his breakfast, washing it down with a cup of coffee. No whipped cream though. That was a treat for when he went out. He took his plate, cup and cutlery back into the kitchen. He washed, dried and put away everything he’d used for his breakfast that morning before he walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He didn’t lock it. That action would be completely pointless based on the fact that he lived alone and nobody was going to walk in. He stripped off his clothes before turning on the water and getting into the shower. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and of both of his eyes. The normal one was a lovely golden colour, and nothing had ever looked wrong with it. The one he kept covered was a light grey. It was the colour of an overcast sky when the layer of clouds was only thin. He didn’t find it to look particularly bad himself, having been used to it. His eye had been like that since he was born, so he’d seen it often enough. Other people didn’t like it so much, however. That eye always stung a lot in bright light as well. These things had led him to just cover it up with an eyepatch. 

After he’d finished in the shower he got out, wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to his bedroom to put on some clothes. They were just casual and comfortable. He hadn’t planned on going anywhere, so he didn’t need to dress any other way.

\---------------------------------------

 

After the conversation with Bill, Dipper had not pictured Bill showering. Not once. Not even briefly. Of course not. Okay, maybe just for a second. But that wasn’t important! Dipper had much more important things to think about, like when exactly he would call Bill. He couldn’t call him too soon, but he didn’t want to wait long enough that the man would think he didn’t even want to talk or go out again. Not, mind, that Dipper actually wanted to go out again with Bill. He was doing it for the sake of Bill and his sister. Yes. That was it. That was all the reasoning for him to go out again with Bill. Although, there was also the fact that he failed at the last one. And Bill was a little hot. Apart from that, he was just doing it for Bill and Mabel’s sake. The fact that he kept checking his phone constantly to see if he’d received any messages from Bill was completely irrelevant to anything. 

He began to walk around the house rather aimlessly. He was just looking for something to do. Something to pull him away from his boredom. He just ended up finding board games out and recruiting Mabel to play them with him. They played Chess, Checkers, Monopoly, Pictionary and Connect 4. They played with the board games for at least another hour. The only reason they stopped was because Mabel got bored and left Dipper, so she could go off and do something else. So Dipper found out a pack of cards and played solitaire. The loneliest of all card games. Even the name practically told you that it was one of the loneliest games to play of all time. After three games of solitaire, winning each time, he got bored again. So he stood and began to walk around. Dipper searched the entire house for something he wanted to do, and still couldn’t find anything. When all else failed, he decided on being productive with his free time.

So, Dipper decided a good idea would be to work. To take his mind off of things. So he pulled out his trusty notepad and began to scribble down ideas for characters. He wrote of beautiful golden blonde hair and a single beautiful eye. He wrote about a person who dressed like they were barely from the same century. After writing, he read through his notes again. It was then he realised that he’d essentially written a description of Bill Fucking Cipher.


	4. In the Red and Gold of the Sun's Last Light.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper finally calls Bill and they go on another date. Real fuckin gay.

Dipper picked up his phone. It’d been a couple of days since he first met Bill in the café, and he decided that it had definitely been long enough since their meeting to call the man. He sighed and pressed the call button. Bill picked up on the fifth ring.

“Well well well, Pine Tree, I see you’ve decided to call me. Well, it was just a matter of time really. I was just seeing how long it’d take.”

Had Bill honestly just been waiting for him to call? Why couldn’t he just call? Bill really hadn’t seemed the kind of guy to be nervous about phone calls. Then again, it wasn’t like he knew Bill all that well.  
“Uh, hey Bill. You were waiting for me to call? Why didn’t you just call me first?” 

“I didn’t call you because I wanted to see how long it’d take. For science.” For science? What science? “Okay, I actually had a bet with Mabel and now I owe her money. Couldn’t you have waited like two more days?” No; no he couldn’t. Honestly he’d wanted to call him anyway, but didn’t want to call too quickly. Apparently it looked cooler if you waited or something. 

“You guys were betting on this? Honestly I’m not too surprised.” He decided to go with that instead of ‘No, no I couldn’t wait’ and turning the whole thing into some scene from a really cheesy movie. Though Bill probably wouldn’t have followed the cheesy movie dialogue.

“That’s probably because you’ve known Mabel forever. That also probably means that she’s gonna win any bets I make with her. Maybe I should stop making bets with Mabel on this.” Dipper agreed that he should. He honestly didn’t like the idea that they were making bets on what he’d do, and it made him a little uncomfortable.

“You probably should stop before you destroy your bank account or something.”

“I probably should. That’s the reason people tell you not to gamble; I think so anyway.” And with that, Dipper was stuck for ideas on how to carry on that conversation. Thankfully, Bill spoke before the silence became too heavy. “Hey Pine Tree, how would you feel about another date?”

Another date. Bill wanted to go on another date with him. He didn’t honestly know how to feel about that. He really still wasn’t sure that he wanted to start dating, but Bill was alright. He seemed to get on with him, and Dipper didn’t know too many people who’d be able to stand how he could barely hold a conversation when he was new with a person. When he got more used to someone, he could talk a lot more. But when he barely knew someone, he never really knew what to say or talk about. Of course, Dipper had to give him an answer. He had to think of one. He weighed up his options for a moment before responding. “Yeah. I guess I’d like to, actually. When do you want to do that?” He asked.

“When are you free, and how much time do you actually need to get ready to go out?”

“I’m free most of the time. I don’t have anything in particular to do right now either. And I guess, to answer the other question, it doesn’t take long. I just put on clothes really. I shower if I need to but that doesn’t take particularly long either.”  
“Is tomorrow good for you?”

“Yeah, tomorrow works great. I wouldn’t really be doing anything else anyway. Where do you want to meet up?”

“Oh I’ll pick you up from your house. We’ll say about 3? The afternoon, obviously, not the morning.”

“3 works perfect for me. So I guess I’ll see you then?”

“You quitting out on the conversation already, Pine Tree? Suit yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow at 3.”

“See you tomorrow, Bill.” Dipper ended the call. He had a date. Again. With Bill. He honestly wasn’t that sure yet on how he felt about Bill. On the one hand, he was quite nice, Dipper enjoyed talking to him and Bill seemed more than okay with talking to him. On the other, Bill was very – oh what was that word? Dipper really couldn’t remember. 

His train of thought was very quickly interrupted by a voice from behind him. “So, hot date tomorrow then, Dipping Dots?” The sudden break in the silence made Dipper jump in his seat. She was loud as ever, but he had at no point heard her before. He couldn’t work out how long she’d probably been there.

“Mabel, how, uh, how long have you been there?” He asked.

“Oh, long enough to know what’s going on. See? I am a brilliant match maker, and you have a date now. You are so lucky to have me as your sister.”

“Well I wouldn’t say lucky…” Mabel frowned slightly, and Dipper couldn’t keep up the façade for log. “I’m kidding! Who wouldn’t be lucky to have you as a sister?” Mabel immediately brightened up at that.

“Yeah, I knew that the whole time. I just had to see you admit it.” Mabel moved around and sat on the couch with Dipper. “You know what’d be fun that we haven’t done in a while? Sibling movie marathon!” It’d definitely been a while and the idea was more than appealing to Dipper.

“Sibling movie marathon sounds great. Whose turn is it to pick?”

“Mine!” Mabel replied without hesitation. She jumped down off the couch and ran to the DVD rack, picking out movies. She returned with essentially all of the DreamWorks and Disney movies they owned; she turned on the TV and put the first movie, How to Train your Dragon, into the DVD slot. She grabbed the remote and sat back down with Dipper.

“You so look like Hiccup.” Mabel later pointed out as they were watching the movie.

“I do not.” Dipper refused to admit the resemblance between him and the character on the screen.

“You do too!” Mabel responded. “You should totally get a dragon.”

“A dragon would be pretty cool.” Dipper agreed.

“I really want a dragon now. Dipper, get me a dragon.”

“Maybe some other time.” Dipper relented. He watched the rest of the movie with her. The movie pile went down one DVD case after another, the two pointing out resemblances between the characters and the people they knew. And that was how the twins spent the rest of their night. Eventually, nearly on the last movie. The two became too tired to continue. They were half falling asleep there on the couch, so they turned off the TV and went to bed.

\----

It was 2pm and Dipper would be lying if he said he wasn’t freaking out at least a little. He hadn’t been this worried last time, so why was he now? He had no idea where he was going, so was just dressed casually. He could really only hope that Bill would take him nowhere fancy. He’d look so out of place. But it was only their second date, so he wouldn’t really be taken anywhere like that, right? He was somewhat hungry, but also unsure as to whether he should eat or not. There had been no eating involved in their previous date, but maybe there would be this time. Then again, what if there wasn’t and he had to spend the entire thing running on an empty stomach. He couldn’t eat though, because his appetite would be spoiled if there was any food there. 

And then there was the whole other (slightly more immediate) problem of figuring out exactly how to spend the next hour. He really had no idea what to do apart from sit and will time to move independent of him. Of course, that idea was near impossible and he would have to find some way to occupy his mind. So he switched on the TV. He flipped through the channels for a while and eventually settled on some British looking show about a duck detective. Luckily for him, the program did prove quite interesting; he was more than easily able to sit and waste an hour watching the show.

And then there was a knock at the door. Dipper turned off the TV and stood up. He did a last minute check over, making sure he looked okay, before he answered the door. Bill stood outside, wearing an outfit that was quite similar to what he wore the last time they had met, but much more yellow. He wore a yellow tailcoat as opposed to the black waistcoat he had worn previously. Everything else, however, appeared the same as it had before. “Hey Bill. You’re looking pretty, uh, bright today.”

“Heya Pine Tree! Do you like it?” A Cheshire cat like grin spread over the blond’s face. “I thought it’d look good. Yellow is my favourite colour.”

“It actually looks pretty good on you. Not many people can look good in that colour. My favourite colour’s blue, by the way.”

“Hm, blue. It’s not really my favourite, but it’s alright. And I can look good in anything I wear.”  
Dipper decided to switch the focus of attention back from colours to their actual date. “Yeah, so where exactly are we going?” Bill seemed to immediately perk up at the question, though Dipper wasn’t particularly sure why.

“Just the question I was waiting for you to ask. I’m not telling you, it’ll be a surprise. But I can tell you that we’re walking there, it’s not very far.” He wasn’t really going to complain. He walked most places anyway, as it was a small town and most things were within walking distance. “So, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, sure.” He had everything he needed. His phone, wallet, keys, notepad and a pen. Dipper did not bring the condom Mabel had slipped into his pocket that morning after he’d gotten dressed. She had tried to be stealthy about giving it to him. She had failed at stealth.

“Come on then, let’s go.” Bill held the door open for him. Dipper walked outside, followed by Bill. He locked the door when they were both out of the house. He walked with Bill, the slightly older man leading the way. It really didn’t take Dipper long to notice they were walking in the opposite direction of the town. He was quite confused by that, but didn’t ask. He’d figured that Bill wouldn’t tell him if he asked a million times. He’d figured by that point that the man liked very much to be mysterious. It was when they reached the edge of the woods that Dipper had become very curious, and a little worried.

“Uh, Bill? Where exactly are we going?” The words were barely out of his lips before Bill silenced him, putting a finger over his lips.

“You’ll see when we get there, Pine Tree. Don’t worry. You’ll like it I promise.” Dipper sighed. That was all he guessed he was going to get. He continued to follow Bill into the woods, leaving the path behind. Bill seemed to be walking somewhere direct rather than wandering aimlessly. That was promising at least. Eventually they came to a clearing, it was just flat grass, though it bordered the edge of a cliff. Below that, the forests seemed to stretch on for miles. It was beautiful to see, though Dipper couldn’t push the slight worry out of his mind that Bill could totally push him over the cliff. Instead of doing that, Bill unzipped his bag. He placed a yellow and black checked picnic blanket on the grass and sat down, cross legged, on the blanket. “Are you going to sit down, Pine Tree?”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” He replied, taking his gaze away from the edge of the cliff and moving to sit on the blanket next to Bill. “I wasn’t expecting to go anywhere like this. I thought you’d be taking me somewhere in town or something.”

“Oh, I thought this would be nicer” He responded. “I always like it here. You can see for miles, the view’s beautiful and if you stay long enough you can watch the sun go down past the trees.” He smiled, taking various containers of food out of his bag as he spoke and placing them on the blanket. Food. Well that immediately relieved one of his worries. Bill took the lids off of the containers and took a sandwich for himself, Dipper doing the same.

“Yeah, this is quite nice actually. It’s probably nicer than going into town would be. I was honestly kind of worried you’d take me somewhere fancy in town and that I’d be underdressed.”

“No, I’m not a fancy restaurant kind of guy. The food is too expensive. Especially considering that it’s always undercooked and in really small portions.” Bill said, blowing off the idea. That could definitely crossed off for future date idea. “And don’t worry about how you’re dressed. I know I don’t, and you look great anyway.” Dipper felt a slight blush in his cheeks at the compliment.

“Thanks, I guess.” Dipper looked for another conversation topic. “So, do you come here often?” It sounded like a terrible pick-up line, but those would honestly be kind of useless on a date anyway. You know, with having already picked the person up and everything.

“Oh, of course I do. Didn’t you notice that I knew exactly where to go without a path? Honestly I just like the forest itself a lot. This is just one of my favourite parts of it.”

Dipper nodded in understanding, taking another sandwich from the box. “I can see why, it’s pretty.”

“Kind of like you, Pine Tree.” Dipper sat, his mouth agape, trying to think of a good response to that. He couldn’t find one and essentially just turned bright red.

Bill couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips. “That is the best reaction. All I had to do was call you pretty.”

“I’m not pretty!” He protested. “I’m manly as fuck.” This only prompted more, louder, laughter from Bill.

“Defensive much, Pine Tree?” He was not being defensive at all and had no idea what Bill was talking about. “You’re pretty. Accept it and learn to take a compliment” He had to admit that being called pretty was nice. It just had really girly connotations.

“Fine.” He sighed.

\----

A long time had passed since they had started the date, this one had definitely gone better than the last. Most of the food Bill had set out had been eaten. The bowl of coleslaw remained untouched. It turned out Pine Tree liked coleslaw as much as anyone else in the world. He didn’t. But it was an obligatory food for picnics, so Bill had brought some. He hadn’t really thought about what he’d do if it remained uneaten though. 

It had become so late that in the distance over the cliff, the sun had begun to set behind the trees. The western sky was lit up with oranges and reds, contrasting sharply to the still-blue sky in the east. And Pine Tree could surely have never looked better than he did, bathed in the reds and golds of the day’s last light. He watched over the cliff, seeming to enjoy the sight of the setting sun over the seemingly endless forest. Almost as much as Bill enjoyed seeing him enjoying himself bathed in the setting sun’s rays. Mabel had probably been right in setting the two of them up in the first place. Bill certainly liked Pine Tree, the only problem being that he didn’t know how the brunet liked him. He certainly wasn’t letting onto anything. Apart from agreeing to a second date with him, of course. 

His train of thought was broken by the sound of rustling in the trees behind them. Visible just past the first line of trees was a doe standing next to her young faun. “Pine Tree.” Bill whispered, getting his attention. “Look at the trees. Don’t make any noise.” Pine Tree looked a little confused as he looked at where Bill had told him, but his expression melted as soon as he saw the pair. The doe looked straight back at them for a while, silently judging them before making the decision to take her faun elsewhere, walking silently on.

Dipper was first to break the silence. “So, should we be going back soon?” 

“That would probably be a good idea. Do you want to come back and stay the night at my place?”

Of course, Pine Tree took the question very much the wrong way. “Oh, I, uh.” He couldn’t seem to help the light blush that crossed his face.

Bill laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, Pine Tree. We won’t be doing anything like that. It’ll essentially just be like a sleepover more than anything.”

“Okay.” Dipper agreed.

“I’ll need you to stand up first, so I can pack things away. I could always pull the blanket out from under you though.” Pine Tree stood up and got off of the blanket with no more prompting. Bill packed everything away before standing and leading Dipper back to his apartment. 

\----

The inside of Bill’s apartment was more or less just a very standard apartment. It was all very neat though. Not like the disorganisation that was the only part of Dipper and Mabel’s house that he had control over. It was very neat, and somehow it suited him. Dipper sat on the couch while Bill took the bag with the picnic stuff into the kitchen. He soon returned though and took a seat on the couch next to Dipper.

“Hey Pine Tree,” He started “You like deer, right?” As if that wasn’t an obvious question.

“Yeah, of course. Why?” 

“We’re watching Bambi.” Ah, Bambi. One of the few Disney movies he and Mabel hadn’t watched the night before.  
“Okay. I haven’t seen that in ages. I swear we used to have the DVD though.”

“You did. It’s mine now.” Bill got up and turned the TV on. He put in the DVD and sat back down next to Dipper. He really didn’t wait to get anything done, did he? Also he’d stolen their copy of Bambi.

“I swear I haven’t seen this movie since I was like 6 or something.”

“Really? How much do you remember?”

“It’s about a deer. Not a lot else.” He remembered that there was a deer and he swore there was a rabbit in there somewhere too.

“You’re going to have a fun time with this.” The movie started up and the two watched it silently. Somewhere along the line the two managed to end up cuddled up next to each other as they watched, Dipper swore Bill had been the one to start that. He definitely did not cry at all when Bambi’s mom died. He did not cuddle up to Bill more based on that either. 

By the time the movie ended, the two were quite happily cuddled up asleep on the couch. And that was how they stayed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this took me so long, but it's a whole new 3192 words. Thanks for the kudos and comments. I'm so glad people are enjoying this.
> 
> Also you should totally check out DipDopPineTree's work ( http://archiveofourown.org/users/DipDopPineTree ) He's working on a couple of good BillDip fics and he's helping me a little with some of this.


	5. A Good Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper wakes up in an unfamiliar room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took me so long!

Dipper woke up, alone, in a room he didn’t recognise. Despite remembering everything from the previous night, he had no recollection of that room. The last thing he remembered was being on a couch cuddled up to Bill. He never remembered going into any room other than his living room and he certainly never remembered getting into a bed. He was fully clothed. He was wearing everything he had on the day before, except for shoes. He wasn’t wearing those, understandably. He sat up in the bed, taking a few moments to get a better look around the room. It looked like a rather normal bedroom. Honestly there really wasn’t anything odd at all. It was just unfamiliar. `  
He stood and walked out of the room, closing the door behind himself carefully. As he looked around, the place all looked extremely familiar. It was the room he’d been in only the previous night. The living room was spacious, made to seem bigger by the lack of separation to the kitchen. The only separation that really existed was a kitchen counter and a change in flooring. Behind said kitchen counter, standing in front of an oven with his back to Dipper, was Bill. He looked different to both times Dipper had seen him. As opposed to the formal clothing he usually wore along with his top hat, he was wearing very casual clothes. He was wearing a T-shirt that seemed too big for him as well as a pair of lounge pants. Nothing more. Dipper walked over, addressing Bill when he stood at the near non-existent divide between the living room and the kitchen. Dipper was about to speak, but lost his chance to Bill.  
“Good morning, Pine Tree.” He was going to respond before Bill turned around to face him. He was wearing nothing over his eye. Not that there was any problem with that, of course, but it just seemed odd to him. Both the lack of an eyepatch in general and the appearance of his eye, with no defining feature aside from how blank it was. Once more, he was ready to speak before Bill got there first. “It’s rude to stare, kid. Gorgeous as I may be.”  
“Sorry I just-” He cut himself off, not certain where that sentence was going “I mean your eye, I-” No, that wouldn’t work either. “How come I woke up in your bed? We never moved rooms last night.” That worked much better.  
“I woke up this morning and we were both on the couch. I got up and I couldn’t just leave you there. I figured a bed would be more comfortable, and getting things done in a morning feels a little bit weirder when there is a sleeping guy right there. So I moved you.” He paused for just a moment. “And nice change of topic there, Pine Tree. I would just like to add, because you obviously don’t actually want to bring it up, that yes. Yes, I have an eye. Yes, it has always looked like that. No, it does not work. Yes, I was lying about the bear thing, though I doubt you ever really actually believed that.” Bill listed these things with no problem, obviously having done so many times before.  
“I, uh… You know, the other day, I thought the eyepatch was like some weird fashion choice or something. I kind of expected that eye to look the same as the other one.” He confessed.  
“Nope. It’s just blank. Comes in very handy, I put my eyepatch over the other eye when I’m doing my day job as a psychic. Really adds effect.” Bill looked at him kind of weirdly for a few moments. Dipper just looked very confused. “It’s called a joke, Pine Tree. I wouldn’t give away my job that easily.”  
“How am I supposed to figure that out if you never give me any hints?” He didn’t quite understand the whole guessing Bill’s job game. It didn’t make a lot of sense and he wasn’t sure how he was ever going to figure that out if Bill continued to refuse to give him anything on it.  
“You’ve got to figure it out. The better you get to know me, the more likely it is you’ll get it.”  
“Is that some tactic you came up with to get me to stay with you? Just to find out more stuff?”  
“Well, isn’t that the tactic you use all of the time, writer?” He stressed the last word, grinning on it. It was true. But people weren’t books, right? There were definitely ways to compare people to books. You can’t judge them entirely by their cover. You can’t assume that you know everything about them just from reading the blurb. Some people’s stories are unexpectedly complex while others follow a seemingly set pattern. Though the idea did seem a little unsettling, especially given that Bill had a point, Dipper honestly couldn’t really say that wanting to know about his job was the reason he stayed with Bill. Well, maybe ‘stayed with’ wasn’t the best term to use yet. It was more like ‘Continued talking to’. But the reason was probably a much better one. A better reason for both books and people, he actually kind of liked him.  
“Maybe I do. But not the point. It’s not like the tactic really works anyway, considering that’s not actually the reason that I’m still talking to you. And it’s not the reason I’m in your apartment now.” He pointed that out, hoping Bill wouldn’t question his reasons further.  
“Really? That’s cute, Pine Tree, but I’m still not telling you what I do. I want to see you figure it out on your own. You said you write crime fiction. Use those fictional detective skills.” Was he serious? It was called crime /fiction/ for a reason. And he wasn’t going to awkwardly detective stalk Bill.  
“Yeah, okay. I guess I’ll figure it out.” He wasn’t going to get anywhere by insisting that he wouldn’t figure this out. So he relented.  
“Good. Now do you want some breakfast? There is a reason I’m in the kitchen.”  
“Oh, yeah. Thanks. Breakfast would be good.” He hadn’t eaten since the night before, though he hadn’t exactly eaten badly then.  
“It’s easier if I just make you the same as I’m having. How’s French toast for you?” He asked.  
“French toast sounds great.” He nodded. It really did sound like a good option. If he weren’t with Bill, he’d probably just make himself cereal for breakfast. So having something nice like that was a treat. He and Mabel rarely ate breakfast at the same time as each other, though it was nice when they did.  
“On its own or would you like a drink with that?”  
“A drink would be good, thanks.”  
“Coffee?”  
“Coffee works for me.”  
“How do you take it?”  
“Black with 2 sugars.” It was a pretty mindless conversation. The two of them saying things that they’d probably said to a million other people. It was like they were simply following a set script they had written much earlier in their lives.  
“Okay, I’ll do that. You can just sit down and do whatever. Explore if you want. Not like there’s really much to explore though. I have a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Well, I do have a workroom but you’re not going in there. I locked it so you don’t get to peek.” Dipper nodded.  
“Yeah, I’ll maybe do that. I’ll probably just end up coming back in here.”  
\----------  
“Pine Tree, come get your breakfast.” Bill placed both of their plates and mugs on the island counter. He wasn’t 100% sure if it was supposed to be used to eat at, but it did the job well enough with some chairs. Pine Tree came through pretty much immediately when called, sitting down on one of the chairs. Bill quickly swapped the mugs around so each of them wouldn’t be drinking the other’s coffee before he sat down next to Dipper. The brunet thanked him for the food before beginning to eat, Bill following suit. He glanced over to the man next to him occasionally, checking for any reaction. He seemed to be enjoying the food Bill had prepared, which was always a good thing. They both ate in silence, neither really had anything to say; eating kept them both preoccupied enough. When they had both finished their food, Bill picked up their dishes. Dipper thanked him a second time for the food, as if once hadn’t been enough. He took their dishes to the sink. He’d wash them later. It was fine for the time being. Dipper was the one to break their silence.  
“Hey, Bill, can I use your shower?”  
“Knock yourself out, kid. The towels shouldn’t be too difficult to find. The soap and stuff is literally in the shower on the shelves. I’d be a little worried if you couldn’t find those.” Bill chuckled lightly. What he’d said wasn’t really a joke, but he seemed to find it amusing anyway.  
“Thanks.” Dipper nodded before walking away to the bathroom. It was a few moments before Bill heard the running of the shower. Something Bill rarely heard from outside of the shower. He couldn’t say he often had people come over to his apartment and use it. It was usually just him. Really it was no wonder Mabel had thought he’d benefit from a date.  
Honestly, he was benefiting from it. He had his Pine Tree. Someone new he got on well with. He wasn’t certain of how exactly he was supposed to label their relationship. They’d been on 2 dates, which may have classed them as dating. They definitely weren’t close enough yet to be classed as any more than that. He made a mental note to maybe bring that topic up with him, to find out his opinion on it.  
It wasn’t long before he heard the shower stop; a short while longer before the bathroom door clicked open and Dipper stepped out. He clearly had no qualms with the idea of wearing the same clothes two days in a row. Bill’s clothes probably wouldn’t fit him, so maybe that was a good thing. Then again, the idea of seeing Pine Tree in clothes that were slightly too big definitely appealed to him.  
“So, I guess I should probably be going.” Dipper said as he walked over. His hair was still damp under his hat.  
“Really? What gives you that idea?” Bill raised an eyebrow. Did Pine Tree really want to leave already?  
“I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome or anything. I’ve already been here all night, eaten your food and used your shower.”  
“It’s fine, Pine Tree. Don’t worry about it. It’s bed, breakfast and a shower. It’s the least I can do. It’s not a problem for me at all and I’m honestly happy to have you here.” Bill clarified. Did Dipper really think he was getting too much? Bill was only being a vaguely decent host. He wasn’t going to have woken him up the night before and made him go home, and he wouldn’t have made him go hungry that morning.  
“If you say it’s not a problem, then I guess I’ll stay. I just don’t want to be an inconvenience. And then you probably have work and everything.” Dipper really could be awkward sometimes, couldn’t he?  
“You’re not an inconvenience. And I tend to work at night anyway. I really just choose my own work times.” He would give him that much, if just to ease his mind. It didn’t give too much away about what he did. Not really anyway.  
“You’re really giving me hints now?”  
“It’s not that big of a hint, Pine Tree. There are a lot of jobs where you choose your own working times. Yours being an example.” And he definitely wasn’t a writer. He’d maybe half considered that once, but writing really wasn’t something he’d ever been that good at. Nobody would’ve read his stuff, he was certain of that.  
“That’s true. But it still narrows it down quite a lot. There are a lot of jobs where you work set times.” Well, that was true.  
“But there are a lot of jobs where you don’t work set times.” He pointed out. He decided to change the subject and move the conversation forwards. “Is there anything you want to do? I don’t have anything in particular to do today, so we have time.” Pine Tree paused to think about that for a few moments before responding.  
“We could go out somewhere if you want. Or we can just sit in and not do much.”  
“I have to admit, sitting in and not doing much really does sound tempting.” Bill chuckled. “We can watch another movie.”  
“We can. Though I did watch pretty much every DreamWorks and Disney movie ever with Mabel the other day.”  
“Then we won’t watch one of those. I have other things than DreamWorks and Disney, kid.” He pointed out. Though he did have Disney and DreamWorks movies (And who didn’t?), he had plenty of other things too.  
“And why do you call me ‘kid’ so much? I can’t be that much younger than you. Probably two years, if that. How old are you anyway?” He asked.  
“You’re not supposed to just ask a guy how old he is.” Bill laughed. “But I’m 24, if you must know.”  
“See? Two years. I am really good at guessing ages.” Dipper smiled, obviously quite proud of himself. “And I am definitely allowed to know how old you are. Considering you probably already know how old I am. You’re friends with Mabel, and we’re twins.”  
“That’s true.” He admitted. “I know your birthday too. Mine’s the 16th of December, in case you wanted to know.”  
“The 16th of December,” He repeated, “I’ll try and remember that. Now are we going to watch a movie or not?”  
“Yes we are. I’ll let you choose too.  
\--------

One movie later, and Dipper found himself cuddled up on the couch with Bill. He had, by that point, learnt that the blond really had no apparent cares for personal space. Either his own or that of the people around him. Dipper had spent nearly a day with the other man, so it seemed right that he should leave soon. He mentioned this to Bill.  
“Fine, you have spent almost an entire day with me. You can go if you want.” He relented. “Call me though. I don’t want to hear nothing from you.”  
“Okay, I can do that.” Dipper smiled. “I’ll see you soon then, I guess.” He stood up, making sure he had everything with him, and headed to the door. Bill followed him. The man unlocked the door and opened it for Dipper.  
“See you later, Pine Tree.” Dipper gave a small wave as he walked away from Bill, who closed the door. Dipper sighed and started his walk home; he quite quickly got his bearings of where exactly he was and how he was going to get home. The Brunet got home in about 20 minutes. Bill’s apartment really wasn’t that far away.  
As he stepped into his house and collapsed onto the couch, he was becoming more aware of one thing. Mabel’s decision to send him on a date had almost definitely been a good one.


	6. Hard to understand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings can be difficult when you're a stubborn little Pine Tree. And pick up lines are the word vomit of Satan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's so short, it's mostly just filler really.

Dipper leant back into the couch, relatively tired from walking back. Nobody had probably been more unfit than him. Maybe he deserved a medal just for that. He’d enjoyed his time spent with Bill the previous night and that morning. Given how disastrous the coffee shop had seemed, Dipper was pleasantly surprised by how well it had gone. Then again, it may have gone a lot better because Bill had been able to arrange it knowing how Dipper had fared with the coffee shop date. So he had the benefit of knowing that something more relaxed would have been a better idea. He was pulled out of his train of thought by a door opening behind him. Mabel stood in the doorway looking very pleased with herself.  
  


“Did you and Bill have a good time last night, Dipping Sauce?” Mabel asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Dipper picked up a cushion and threw it at her, she caught it just before it hit her. “Tell me everything, but don’t get too graphic.” She laughed before moving over to sit beside him on the couch.

 

“He took me into the woods, and-” He was cut off (Rudely) by Mabel.

 

“Ooooo, romantic!”

 

“Is that sarcasm or- never mind.” He shook his head. “So he took me to this really nice clearing in the woods, just by the edge of a cliff. You know, I was honestly kind of worried he was going to push me or something for a moment.” He couldn’t help the chuckle that passed his lips. “It really would seem like you to be friends with a serial killer.”

 

“What does that mean?” She asked, a little indignantly. Dipper didn’t answer.

 

“He took out a blanket and food; we had a picnic and it was actually pretty good. We saw a deer at one point too and we watched the sun set.” He smiled, only really a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth. “After that, we went back to his place.” Mabel seemed to perk up at that; thinking the story was about to take a whole different turn, no doubt. “We watched Bambi and we just fell asleep on the couch at some point. He moved me to the bedroom at some point though, and I woke up in his bed.”

 

“So you didn’t need what I gave you then, bro-bro?” Of course that was what she’d focus on.

 

“No, Mabel. I didn’t. We just watched a movie.” There was a pause for a moment before Mabel asked,

 

“Do you like him?” Now that was a much more difficult question than it seemed.

  
How did Dipper feel towards Bill? He got on well enough with him. And yeah, he liked him as a friend. But he didn’t like him in the way Mabel had obviously been rooting for. Did he? No, of course not. Bill was nice, he was good looking and he very easily got on with the brunet. Dipper enjoyed talking to him, watching movies with him. And so what if he enjoyed the feeling of being cuddled up to the blond, or the sight of him smiling (Which he saw often when they were together). But Dipper didn’t- he couldn’t. He’d only been talking to him for a few days. There was no way he could have liked Bill in that way. He was perfectly fine on his own with his work and his twin to keep him company. He didn’t need anything like that in his life. Though, he had to admit that a person’s interests and wants didn’t tend to correspond with their needs. That idea still didn’t mean he actually did want anything with Bill other than what they already had. Of course he didn’t. But still… why did his own feelings have to feel so foreign to him? Why were they so hard to understand?

 

“Oh, I think I’m alright friends with him now.” And that was all he’d say on the matter. Dipper knew, deep, deep down. He was screwed. He liked Bill, and he wasn’t supposed to. He was supposed to go on that blind date, and come out unaffected. Maybe gain a friend. He wasn’t supposed to come out of it like a teenager with a crush. He liked Bill. He wouldn’t tell Mabel, because he didn’t even know if it would last and he definitely didn’t want to get her hopes up for anything more; he definitely could not tell Bill. He didn’t want to end any chances of being able to be friends with the blond. He didn’t want to be rejected. There was no way Bill could reciprocate. Dipper was awkward and quiet and weird. Bill was cheerful, loud and- well he was pretty weird too. Dipper felt pretty pathetic, and if there were a god or gods out there, they were probably pretty ashamed of his existence.

 

“I was thinking differently, but friend is pretty good too. Especially for you. Sometimes, your laptop could be considered your best friend in the world.” She said, an edge of humour to her voice. Thank god she’d taken that as an answer so easily.

 

* * *

 

 

Bill was still at home. After Pine Tree left, he’d sat down on the couch and channel surfed for a while. He eventually settled on some documentary about gold and the fascination people had always had with it. Bill had definitely enjoyed their day together. The date went as well as anyone could have hoped. It wasn’t cold, it wasn’t windy, wasn’t boiling and it wasn’t rainy. It was nice. The sky was as clear as it could have been and the view was perfect. Having seen the two deer had made it even nicer. The night at his apartment was good too, the movie was nice and they both enjoyed it. Though what Bill had probably enjoyed more was being so closely cuddled up next to the younger man. Having Dipper pressed against him, head on Bill’s shoulder, was definitely among the evening’s highlights. Bill and Dipper may have only known each other for a few days, but that didn’t stop Bill from liking the brunet as he did.

 

He didn’t see a problem in liking Dipper. That was the intention of them being put together by Mabel, and she really hadn’t disappointed. Dipper was nice, he was quiet and cute, smart and attractive.

 

Bill would certainly want to go on more dates with Dipper. He honestly didn’t know how Dipper felt in return. He didn’t know how to read the brunet like he could read other people. Then again, he could very rarely tell how somebody was feeling after nought but days. He would be able to with time. If Dipper didn’t feel the same, that was fine. Bill could settle for just a friend. But if he did, that would be so much better. He had wanted to find someone good for him, and it was for that reason Mabel had sent him on a blind date. He trusted Mabel to know who he’d be more compatible with. He’d walked into that coffee shop with relatively high expectations for the date, and had definitely not been disappointed by it.

 

Pine Tree looked like he was quite uncomfortable though. That was something that really had disappointed him about the date. How uncomfortable it had seemed for him was what led Bill to set their next date in a more relaxed place. Dipper had seen much happier that time. Bill had seen a smile cross the younger man’s features several times over the course of that night. He didn’t smile out of politeness, pressure or necessity. He smiled of genuine happiness. What Bill would give to see so beautiful a smile again. There was no way a smile like that could be found anywhere but with him, spread across his features. His smile was never confined to the borders of his mouth, but went on further to turn on the light in his eyes. He was one of the people who smiled not only with a simple movement of their lips, but with their whole self. And Bill definitely liked that about him. He wanted to make Dipper happy, even if just to see him smile more often. With Pine Tree on his mind, Bill decided a good idea would be to pick up his phone and text him.

 

[Text to: Pine Tree] Did you get home or were you ravaged by a pack of hungry wolves?

 

It really wasn’t long after he put his phone down when he got another text.

 

[Text from: Pine Tree] I totally found a pack of wolves. They have now adopted me as one of their own.

 

[Text to: Pine Tree] They only have any interest in you because you probably smell like me now.

 

[Text from: Pine Tree] Are you secretly a werewolf, Bill? Is there something you’re not telling me?

 

[Text to: Pine Tree] No, I just smell really good. Of course, you’d know.

 

There was a short pause after that before he received another text.

 

[Text from: Pine Tree] Accept it, Bill. You’re a werewolf.

 

[Text to: Pine Tree] Well, you got me. I’m a werewolf. And, by the by, you know what they say about men with big claws ;)

 

He just couldn’t have resisted making that comment. He laughed for a few moments at his own absolutely terrible pick-up line. He got no response. None at all. He waited 5 minutes. And then another 5 before he finally got a text in response, though it wasn’t Pine Tree.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] Bill, what did you do?

 

He couldn’t help himself from near immediately breaking into a fit of laughter.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] I think you actually broke him.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] I don’t have enough glitter glue to put him back together.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] Bill, I found his phone.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] He’s dead.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] You killed him.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] He’s gone into hiding.

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] In a pillow fort

 

[Text from: Shooting Star] I think he’s speaking in tongues.

  
[Text from: Shooting Star] Or maybe it’s Latin.

Bill was practically crying of laughter. The mental image alone was way too amusing. Who knew shitty pick-up lines could have so much power?

 

* * *

 

 

Dipper had not expected that line. It came out of absolutely nowhere, and destroyed all of his weapons. He had no comebacks left. His soul had been destroyed. He had mental images he didn’t really want, though they honestly weren’t that bad.

 

Before he really knew it, he had buried himself in a large pile of pillows on the couch. He heard when Mabel walked into the room, but didn’t leave his sanctuary.

 

“Bro-Bro?” He was not going to move.

 

“The Princess is in another castle.”

 

“What’s this even about?” Well, he would’ve surely sounded silly if he were to say that he got pick-up lined. So he did the most sensible thing he could think of and started mumbling in Latin.

 

“Non aequum. Tantum infirmitate mea! Exciperent lines! ... Salve tenebris veteris confusus amici laudo.” And after that, Mabel was completely silent. Except for… was she typing? Dipper peeked through the corner of his fortress. Yep. She was typing. And, right on cue, his hastily built fortress collapsed around him.

 

“Welcome back to the living room, Dipdop. What broke you?”

  
“...” He chose to stay silent. He did have the right to, after all.

 

“Tell me, or I will have to resort to drastic measures.” He didn’t know quite what ‘drastic measures’ would involve, but he didn’t honestly want to test.

 

“I was making werewolf jokes about Bill and then he sent me a pick up line.” And then Mabel burst into laughter. His dignity hurt more than anything, really. His phone went off, so he picked it up to see a single text.

 

[Text from: Bill] I didn’t know you spoke Latin, Pine Tree.

 

Mabel ran out of the room just in time to not be hit by a cushion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a serious writer, I promise.  
> Thanks to DipDopPineTree for making this essentially turn into a meme pit.  
> Also, the Latin translates to  
> "It's not fair! My only weakness, pick up lines! ... Hello darkness my old friend."  
> At least, I think it does. DipDopPineTree translated it and I really have no idea how reliable his translations are.


	7. Hiding Nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry that this is another pretty short chapter.

Dipper stepped out of the shack, looking down at the piece of paper in his hands. It was a rather uninteresting task really, just a trip out for groceries. Though it was a task that someone had to do, and it was his turn to do it. He decided on taking the car. The store wasn’t far away but driving seemed much more appealing to him than having to walk home with a load of shopping bags. He unlocked the car and got into the driver’s seat before making his way to the grocery store.

 

Upon arriving, he stepped out of the car and made sure he had everything with him he’d need. Wallet, shopping list, keys and that was pretty much it. He carried so little; he could never understand why women had to carry everything around in handbags all the time. He grabbed a shopping cart and walked into the store. He started at the left-most aisle which was really nothing particularly exciting, mostly just homeware. Though, something might show up there that would be on the list. You never really did know in a store like that, everything was everywhere. You’d find bras in amidst the vegetables, and for some strange reason tomatoes weren’t even close to the vegetables and instead had their own section. Dipper didn’t quite know why that was, maybe it was down to tomatoes not being vegetables but nobody wanting to throw them in with the rest of the fruits. But then again, cucumbers didn’t have their own aisle. Nor did bell peppers. Or even chili. The idea that even those culinary hell demons were a fruit was a very odd idea to him.

 

He shook himself from the odd train of thought he’d found himself lost in and got back to shopping. He picked up various different foods, those being the main focus in grocery shopping. Following those, he had to buy other necessities like toiletries. Though maybe they technically weren’t even necessities, but life was much nicer with them nonetheless. Upon seeing the first and only mention of makeup had been scribbled out, he felt mildly offended. Did his sister believe that he did not know how to choose make-up and to tell what was a good thing to buy and what wasn’t? He’d lived with her for their entire lives. He had a relatively good idea. He made a point to pick up the crossed out item.

 

When Dipper much later returned home, carrying multiple shopping bags, he was met with quite an odd sight. Well, that was probably an understatement. On the floor of the living room was Mabel, drawing on a rather large piece of paper. Of course, that was not the odd part. The strange thing about the whole scene was the fact that she was accompanied by Bill. Bill, who did not look at all like he’d been unwillingly counted into whatever the hell this was, and whose felt tip doodles (He could pick them apart from Mabel’s quite easily) actually looked pretty damn good. The sheet of paper was very colourful, most of it had been covered with rather meaningless patterns though quite often specific shapes could be picked out,

“Heya, Pine Tree.” Dipper’s sight was pulled from looking over the sheet of paper to looking the ever smiling blond in the eye.

 

“Uh, hey, Bill. What are you doing here?” Dipper asked him, rather confused and wanting answers. Bill looked at him like he’d asked the strangest question in the world.

 

“I’m drawing, Pine Tree. You know, I have been friends with Mabel for quite a while. That was how we met. Does your memory work?”

 

“My memory works fine. But this,” He gestured generally. “Wasn’t really what I was expecting to see my sister and my-“  Well, his what?  He and Bill talked quite a lot over the phone and they’d been on two dates. What exactly were they? He decided to play it safe. “My sister and my friend doing when I got back from shopping.”

“Oh? So what did you expect to see me and Mabel doing when you got back?” Dipper got the feeling that Bill was seeing the whole thing as a lot more amusing when he was. Mabel too was amused, though watched the pair interact rather than interjecting.

 

“Well, I didn’t. Generally. I didn’t expect you and Mabel to be doing anything because I didn’t expect you to be here at all.” And with that, he took his shopping bags into the kitchen. He put the bags down on the floor and began to sort items away into cupboards where they belonged. While he was in there, conversation seemed to pick up in the next room between the two. Dipper couldn’t really stop himself from listening in. He continued to do his job, albeit quieter, as he listened in to Bill and Mabel in the next room. He couldn’t hear very well, they were definitely talking quietly. He heard small snippets of things though. Most of what he heard was something about telling someone something from Mabel, and quite a lot of no from Bill. Dipper honestly wondered how Bill was managing to stay quiet, given how loud he usually was. He didn’t know who or what they were talking about, though he hoped it didn’t involve him.

 

After finishing up in the kitchen, Dipper walked back into the living room. He honestly didn’t know what he was supposed to do in there but it seemed a better plan than going to his room. They had company over and Mabel would kill him, especially given who that company was. So he sat down on the floor with the two of them and picked up a pen.

 

* * *

 

 

Bill was bored. He was home and bored. Working more was always an option, but he had already worked all the way through the previous night and he wouldn’t want his work to come out forced. It was never as good then. So he made the decision he sometimes made when boredom struck him. He would go outside and see people. The decision of who wasn’t particularly difficult for him. There weren’t that many people he was close with, and a lot of people he knew lived out of town. He had two friends who lived relatively close to him, so of course it was only natural to pay them a visit.

 

He knocked on the front door of the old building, and waited. Now, it was entirely possible that nobody would be home. He didn’t call beforehand, he hadn’t seen the point in doing so. He liked to just show up. There was also no car in the driveway. He was almost ready to turn around and leave when the door clicked open, Mabel standing in front of him.

 

“Hey, Shooting Star.” He was nearly strangled by the arms that snaked around him. Bill swore that Mabel had the strength of a boa constrictor when she hugged. It was like the loveliest form of torture in the world. He was soon released, however.

“Bill! Come in, come in.” He was soon whisked inside by the brunette. “Dipdop’s out shopping right now so it’s just me.”

 

“Yes Mabel, I came here just to see Pine Tree when my best friend since college also lives here.” He rolled his eyes. Though to an onlooker, it would have seemed as though he were only rolling one. The other one did move, it just didn’t work.

“As if you wouldn’t just come here to see him anyway. You’ve been on two dates and he slept at your place. You’re welcome, by the way. I am an excellent matchmaker.” Mabel smiled, her grin looking almost too big for her face.

“Well, you got me there. Your matchmaking skills are unrivalled.” He laughed.

 

“Oh, so you admit it then?” She questioned, getting increasingly close to him. “That you liiiiike hiiiim?”

“I wasn’t trying to hide it in the first place.” Of course he liked Pine Tree. And really there was no point trying to hide that from Mabel because she would get the information from him one way or another.

Mabel had probably never looked happier in her life. It was almost like Bill had just told her that she’d won the lottery. He very quickly found himself in another bone crushing hug.

 

* * *

 

It was quite a while later that the door clicked open, Dipper was home carrying several shopping bags. He started chatting with him quite casually. The most amusing part of that was probably the way that he almost slipped up on saying what Bill was to him. If he didn’t think anything of that, he wouldn’t have stumbled and he would have said ‘friend’ without a second thought. This seemed to please Mabel too. It was only when Dipper was safely in the kitchen that he spoke up.

“You should tell him.” She suggested. Or was it demanded? “You, kitchen. Right now. Tell him.”

 

“No, not right now. I’ll tell him later.”

 

Mabel looked thoroughly disappointed with him. “You say that, but I don’t know what later means to you. It could mean anything from later this hour to latter this millennium. I know your tricks by now.”

 

“I don’t have any tricks. And sometime close to now, when I’ve figured out the best way to tell him.” Mabel looked as if she was about to retort when Dipper walked back into the room, obviously done with the shopping. Bill watched as the brunet walked over and sat down next to him before picking up a pen. Some people would say that 3 was a crowd. But in this case, it seemed much more fun than two.

 

Bill had to think about his next movements. He wanted to draw something Dipper would like that also fit into the current random doodle type theme of the paper. Bill looked to see what Dipper had already gotten started on. He didn’t seem to be drawing anything in particular, but rather drew seemingly random patterns on the paper. Bill didn’t in any way try to get Dipper’s attention, but rather just started drawing.

 

He was going to draw a portrait of Dipper made entirely out of triangles. He started by drawing the face. He drew a shape about as close to a face as he could, making sure it was a rather large polygon with entirely straight edges. All polygons could, after all, be broken into triangles. Following that, he began to fill in the details of his facial features. He started with the nose, followed by eyes and then a mouth. Once those details were filled in, he started to fill in the overall face shape with a series of lines, making a lot of triangles. When he was happy with how the face looked, he started on details like Dipper’s hair and his hat. Needless to say, he had gained Pine Tree’s interest by that point.

 

“That’s… wow.” Dipper smiled. “That’s really good.”

  
Bill lapped up the praise. He loved to hear someone complimenting his work. He especially loved to hear Dipper complimenting his work. “Thanks, Pine Tree. I studied art in college, you know. That’s how I met Mabel.” Mabel looked up and waved upon hearing her name mentioned before going back to work on doodling. She seemed dissatisfied with something for a moment before standing up. The pair watched her in mildly confused silence. They were much less confused when she returned with a metric tonne of glitter glue. “Thanks, Mabel.” Bill grinned. “Just what I needed.” He reached across and grabbed the tube of glitter glue, drawing wavy lines in it around the portrait.

 

“What are those for?” Dipper asked, obviously trying to look for some obscure hidden meaning in his painting.

 

“They look nice.” He said, which he thought to be a perfectly acceptable reason for glitter glue. This was just doodling, after all. Doodling was a very fun way to draw. It was like there was no stress put on the way you drew or painted. You just painted and drew as you wanted. It was certainly his favourite way.

 

* * *

 

 

They went on just like that for a long time. Bill had almost left upon noticing the time, but had soon been stopped by Mabel and invited to eat. They had ordered Domino’s. Because Domino's, that’s why. They had just ordered margherita so everyone would be satisfied with the choice.

 

It took about half an hour for it to arrive, and the smell of pizza soon filled the room. It was a strangely familiar smell, and it always was. It didn’t smell strong exactly. It was more like an average strength smell, but there was just a lot of it. When the box was opened, what Domino’s did better than other pizza takeouts was very immediately obvious. They used real cheese. It probably didn’t need to be said that using real ingredients helped to make food good. Mabel took the first slice of pizza, followed by Bill, followed by Dipper. Between the three of them, they managed to demolish (damn) the entire thing. Bill was the first to speak up after they’d finished.

 

“Well I guess I’d better be going then.” Neither Dipper nor Mabel argued against him.

 

“I guess you’re right, you’ve been here all day.” Dipper pointed out. “You have to get home, do whatever you do in the evenings and sleep.” Bill stood up and Dipper followed suit.

 

“Not that you two would mind sharing a bed anyway.” Mabel grinned.

 

“I… uh…”

 

“Well that is very true. But the question here is do you own headphones?” Mabel burst into a fit of laughter at that, Dipper draining of colour almost instantly. After that had died down a little, Bill began to head for the door pursued by Dipper.

 

“Alright, so I’ll see you whenever, I guess.” Dipper really was good at that. Bill opened the door before he turned his back to it. It was time to use an idea he’d had for a while by that point. He leaned in, putting a hand on Dipper’s neck before kissing him. The kiss was short, yet very soft.

 

“I’ll see you whenever, Pine Tree.” And with that, he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bill really does know how to make an exit, doesn't he?


	8. Week of Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week on, Dipper had still not responded to the events of that day when Bill kissed him. Oh dear.

It had been a week. An entire week since Dipper had seen Bill, and he hadn’t spoken to him since. Bill’s attempts to speak to him had gone unanswered. Dipper wasn’t angry with Bill or what he’d done. He just didn’t know how to respond to it. There was a part of him that wanted to go after him and be with him. There was, however, another part that wanted to back away and hide. He picked that side.

 

Dipper liked Bill. He liked Bill a lot, but he hadn’t known Bill for very long and he didn’t want to rush into anything with him. And so, he avoided any contact with him altogether. It seemed like a good idea to him. Though the downsides, he’d found, were the guilt he felt for ignoring Bill, the fact that he still definitely liked the blond and Mabel. Mabel wasn’t a big fan at all of how he was acting with this. Understandably so, too. Bill was one of her best friends and he’d elected to completely ignore him.

 

‘Speak of the devil and he shall appear’ was all he could think as his bedroom door opened. Mabel stood in the doorway. Oh god.

 

“Dipper…” She started before continuing after a short pause, “Dipper, it’s been a week since you spoke to Bill. Do yourself a favour, please, and talk to him.” Dipper opened his mouth to speak but Mabel carried on before he could say anything. “Look, Dipdop, I don’t mind if you don’t like him like that, and he probably won’t too. What I do mind is you ignoring his existence at all.”

 

“Mabel, it’s not that I don’t like him. It’s just… I haven’t known him very long. I don’t want to rush into a relationship or anything.”

 

“Dipper, he kissed you. He did not propose to you.”

 

“But Mabel-” Mabel cut him off before he could continue.

 

“But nothing, Dipper. You’re an adult, deal with your feelings properly and at least talk to Bill. Hiding in your room for a week is not going to solve all of your problems by magic. But you know what you could do to solve this? Talk to him like a normal person!”

 

“But it’s still not been that long, Mabel.”

 

“Yes, I know. But the last time I liked someone, I actually told them. I hadn’t known them for long, but look now.” She had a very good point there. She and Pacifica had been great together from day one. “So call Bill already and talk to him.”

“Look, Mabel, I don’t want to.” She rolled her eyes and strolled over to Dipper, taking his phone from the table beside him. “Oh my god what are you doing?” After a few moments, she tossed it back to him.

 

“There. Sorted. Get dressed, Dipper. You’ve been wearing those clothes for days.” And with that, she left Dipper alone in the room.

 

Taking a glance at his phone he saw two messages that weren’t there before. The first was from him, or Mabel really, and said “Bill, come over. I want to talk.” The second message was the reply from Bill, accepting the offer.

 

 

* * *

 

It had been a week since Bill had heard a word from Pine Tree. He would claim not to know what he’d done wrong, but that would be a complete lie. He’d only kissed him, nothing more. And now he hadn’t spoken to him in a week.

 

Bill had tried to text and call Dipper, get into contact with him in some way so he could fix what he’d broken. He’d been slow working that week too, he just couldn’t bring himself up to it, couldn’t get Dipper out of his head. Probably the most amazing and gorgeous guy he could have had the good fortune to meet, and he’d already fucked everything up.

 

Mabel would occasionally talk to him, trying to offer some comfort through claims that Dipper would stop ignoring him eventually, that he’d talk to him again eventually. Despite knowing how well Mabel obviously knew Dipper, her words felt of little comfort to him. He couldn’t shake the feeling somewhere that Pine Tree might already be through with him. He’d been rejected in one of the most painful ways there could have been, he was just ignored. He never even got the chance to say that he’d be fine with just being friends, never said anything. He just acted. What a terrible idea that’d turned out to be in the end.

 

It was the last thing he’d expected, having essentially given up hope on hearing from Dipper anytime soon when his phone went off. He picked it up to see a single text message.

 

[From: Pine Tree] Hey, Bill. Could you come over? I want to talk.

 

Pine Tree wanted to speak to him. He wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad. He’d only find out by actually going over there, and taking a chance was so much better than not. He got up and got himself dressed, sighing before leaving his apartment behind and making his way to the shack.

 

* * *

 

 

Dipper had gotten dressed, as Mabel had told him to do. She’d eventually gone out, leaving him alone in the shack to talk to Bill alone. She had made it very clear to him that when Bill arrived he _would_ open the door and he _would_ actually talk to him.

 

The knock of the door made him jump in his seat, though he had been expecting it. He got up, walked to the front door and sighed before opening it. It was exactly who he’d expected to see. It was Bill.

 

“Uh, hey, Bill. Come in.” Dipper opened the door a little wider for him. When Bill was inside, Dipper closed the door and led him into the living room and sat down. Bill sat down next to him. Dipper didn’t look at him when he spoke. “So, I guess we have some things to talk about.” He took a shaky breath before continuing. “Look, I guess I like you, Bill. Well, not really a guess. I like you. Simple as. But it’s not even been that long since I met you, you know? I don’t know if I’m that ready for a relationship right now, it’s not really something I need and I guess I was fine before without one.” Was he saying that to Bill or himself?

 

“So that’s a no then.” Bill spoke up. It was a statement, not a question.

 

“Yes. No. I don’t know, Bill. I guess I thought all that stuff before I met you. And then I did meet you. And now I don’t know what I want. I like you, but I don’t want to rush into anything.”

 

“Pine Tree, we’re talking about you potentially being in a relationship with me. You make it sound like you’re debating selling your soul to me. So I’m just going to put out here now that I have no interest in taking your soul.” He chuckled before continuing. “Pine Tree, it’s a relationship. I have no expectations for anything particular with you. All I want is to be essentially as we are now, but with a higher title and to be closer. Okay? That’s it. And now, the decision is yours.”

 

Well, that was pressure. The way Bill saw it, the way he spoke about it made it sound amazing. Like something definitely worth having. The more he thought about it, with Bill right there beside him, the more appealing the idea began to seem to him. He decided on his answer. “Okay. Yes. Yeah, I want to be in a relationship with you. I’d like that a lot, actually.” He nodded as he spoke, finally looking over to Bill, immediately confronted by the grin on his face.

 

“Can I kiss you, Pine Tree?” The question caught him off guard a little, but he had to answer it right.

 

“Oh so now you’re asking me. And my answer is no.” He gave Bill a moment with the statement before he rectified it. “You’re not going to kiss me, I’m going to kiss you.” Before Bill had a chance to respond Dipper leaned in and kissed him, a hand on the back of his neck. Bill didn’t hesitate to kiss him back. They pulled away after just a short few moments. Both smiling, both happy.

 

Dipper did not stop Bill as he brushed back his fringe. Shit. “Oh, so that’s how you got your name. The big dipper.” Dipper quickly fixed his hair before responding.

 

“Yeah, yeah the big dipper. It’s why I’ve always worn a hat, you know.”

 

“Why hide it? It’s beautiful.” Bill brushed Dipper’s fringe back again, tracing his fingers over it, stopping at the stars as he went and mouthing their names as he did. “I have never seen such a precise birthmark in my life.”

 

“Can I have my forehead back yet?”

 

“Sure thing, kid.” Bill released his head.

 

“So we’ve got some time to kill before Mabel gets home. Do you want to see if there’s anything on TV or something?” Dipper asked.

“Yeah, sure. I’m good with that.” Bill replied. Dipper grabbed the remote, turning on the TV and flipping through channels until he found something relatively decent to watch. Nothing much was on, it was daytime TV. It wasn’t long before there was no space between the two on the couch, and they were very comfortable with that. They watched TV together like that, quite happily curled up on the couch for maybe at least an hour. They barely spoke a word to each other in that time, as neither had anything in particular to say. Both were quite content to sit in silence in each other’s presence.

 

And then Mabel walked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took me so long. I just hadn't really managed to motivate myself to write. Also this is quite a short chapter, I just needed to get it out.
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading this.


End file.
